The failure to understand why these measures are popular with
millions of Americans stems from a deep sense of disconnection in
American society that didn’t begin with Trump or the 2016 election. For
years, millions of voters have felt left behind by an economic recovery
that largely excluded them, a culture that scoffed at their beliefs and a
government that promised change but failed to deliver....

Support for Trump’s travel ban, indeed his entire agenda for
immigration reform, is precisely the sort of thing mainstream media,
concentrated in urban enclaves along our coasts, has trouble
comprehending. The fact is, many Americans who voted for Trump,
especially those in suburban and rural areas across the heartland and
the south, have long felt disconnected from the institutions that govern
them. On immigration and trade, the issues that propelled Trump to the
White House, they want the status quo to change....

In his inaugural address, Trump said: “Today, we are not merely
transferring power from one administration to another or from one party
to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, DC, and
giving it back to you, the people.” To be sure, populism of this kind
can be dangerous and unpredictable, But it doesn’t arise from nowhere.
Only a corrupt political establishment could have provoked a political
revolt of this scale. Instead of blaming Trump’s rise on racism or
xenophobia,blame it on those who never saw this coming and still don’t
understand why so many Americans would rather have Donald Trump in the White House than suffer the rule of their elites....

In many ways, the 2016 election wasn’t just a referendum on Obama’s
eight years in the White House, it was a rejection of the entire
political system that gave us Iraq, the financial crisis, a botched
healthcare law and shocking income inequality during a slow economic
recovery....

For many Americans, Hillary Clinton personified the corruption and
self-dealing of the elites. But Trump’s election wasn’t just a rejection
of Clinton, it was a rejection of politics as usual. If the media and
political establishment see Trump’s first couple of weeks in office as a
whirlwind of chaos and incompetence, his supporters see an outsider
taking on a sclerotic system that needs to be dismantled.That’s
precisely what many Americans thought they were doing eight years ago,
when they put a freshman senator from Illinois in the White House....